Fred, a lonely ghost, haunts a small village in Downeast Maine, visible only to her long-lost twin Jesse who moved away when they were children. When Jesse returns, they struggle to reconnect as past resentments and breakdowns in communication are exacerbated by Fred moving through time. Eventually, they begin to process their shared trauma and accept their bond as siblings.
Here and Then explores the overwhelming feeling when you encounter a person or place you have history with; the impossibility of existing in the present. That emotional charge, the feeling that I get standing across the street from my grandparents’ old apartment in Greenwich Village; that they might walk out at any minute, ready for dinner at John's Pizza on Bleecker Street. The occasional rush of time disorientation, or the sudden awareness of how much time has passed.
Family is complicated. Repairing and maintaining familial bonds is a delicate dance of strength, sometimes simply not worth the pain. But my relationship with my two younger siblings is uniquely honest. So I wrote them a script, and cast them in it. Here and Then is a celebration of sibling relationships, through exploration of time and memory. The film showcases two young adults, attempting to repair a deep wound inflicted on them in childhood, and beginning to realize the differences in their suffering, despite living the same events.
My siblings are not exactly playing themselves, but the characters and setting are deeply
rooted in our reality. The film will be shot in Downeast Maine, in the tiny town of Jonesport where my mother lives. By piecing the actors and locations together from people and places with whom I share a familial bond, I am creating ghosts in the way the characters are. For myself and my family, the film will be an external memory of the people we were and the places we inhabited.
This will be my last student film; potentially my last opportunity to experiment with freedom
to fail, supported by a crew of entirely people I know and trust.
Uprooted (2020), Written and Directed by Hillia Aho
For the world of Here and Then, I want to create something deeply atmospheric and delve into my inclination towards visual experimentation and shifting reality.
Hillia Aho - Writer/Director
Hillia Aho is a queer artist and filmmaker. Her work explores human connection, solitude, and our relationship to the natural world. She grew up in rural Maine, which remains her preferred shooting location. She has a passion for low-budget filmmaking with small crews and good food. She exercises her roots in visual art with her filmic style, often incorporating practical effects. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Media Arts and Culture, and is currently a graduate film thesis student NYU, while working as a freelance editor and production designer in NYC, and Vancouver, BC. www.hilliaaho.com
Uprooted (2020) In Passing (2022)
Kaitlyn Busbee - Cinematographer
Born and raised in Des Moines, Iowa, Kaitlyn T. Busbee’s award-winning films explore female-centric stories rooted in often unseen and commonly unvoiced perspectives. Busbee is currently an MFA candidate at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts in Graduate Film. She is recipient of the Maurice Kanbar Scholarship and the Martin Scorsese Scholarship Grant, and was nominated for the 2023 ARRI Volker Bahnemann Award for outstanding cinematography. She has served as a DP and Producer on projects for HBO Max, ABC, Sesame Workshop and Amazon Prime. Her work has screened at over 30 festivals worldwide, including the Tribeca Film Festival. Her feature, These Hopeless Savages, played Tribeca’s 30 Under 30 Film Festival where she was named “one of the next wave of gifted young filmmakers.” She’s just wrapped post-production on her upcoming short film, Layaway, which received the Black Family Film Prize and will screen at festivals in the following year. www.kaitlynbusbee.com
Meagan Solano - Producer
Meagan Solano is a Producer currently in the dual MBA/MFA program at NYU Stern School of Business and Tisch School of the Arts, whose short films have been shown at the Houston Comedy Film Festival, the Portland Comedy Film Festival, the Great Canadian Comedy Festival, the Georgia Comedy Festival, the Austin Comedy Film Festival and the Hollywood Comedy Shorts Film Festival. Growing up a classical pianist and dancer, she originally fell in love with the art and rhythm she found in film editing and moved to Los Angeles directly after college to begin an editing career. In LA she worked as an Assistant Editor and Editor. Her goal is to promote the work of female writers and directors and to produce films that explore stories that haven’t previously been given the platform to be shared.
Jessica Li - Producer
Jess is a producer, writer, and director currently pursuing her MFA/MBA dual degree at NYU. She has produced several shorts at NYU, including Swim Captain which premiered at the RiverRun International Film Festival. She received her Bachelor’s from Princeton University in Economics and previously worked as a management consultant. She aspires to tell stories that invite audiences into novel perspectives while feeling strangely familiar.
In Passing (2022)
The film will be shot in June in Maine. Your support will help fund:
- Food and transport for cast and crew
- Production design
- Costumes
- Post-production sound and color
- Music rights
We would really appreciate it if you could get the word out. Share it with your friends and family who might be interested and able to support our mission to make this film a reality.
Thank you so much for finding your way here and supporting us!
Haley (2019)